Sony has officially unveiled its latest entry in the digital recording binoculars market. The new product is called the DEV-50V and it is the second generation of digital recording binoculars from Sony. Compared to the first generation product, the new binoculars are smaller, lighter, and weatherproof. Sony has made a number of improvements to the functionality of the new digital recording binoculars.

The binoculars have a wide zoom magnification range from 0.8x to 25x and feature autofocus. The product also has integrated image stabilization to keep images from being excessively shaky at high zoom levels. The binoculars also capable of recording both 2-D and 3-D images, even in lowlight situations.

The 50V binoculars have a 20.4-megapixel image sensor and can shoot still photos as well as video. Audio recorded along with the video is in stereo format. The binoculars use XGA OLED Tru-Finder electronic viewfinders promising better resolution and contrast for each eye. The image sensor is a Sony Exmor R CMOS unit.

The binoculars also make use of Sony’s BIONZ image processors to provide stereoscopic 3-D images if desired. Users can directly connect the binoculars to a TV using a HDMI output for viewing of images and accessory cable. Power comes from a high-capacity rechargeable battery pack allowing three hours of 2-D recording per charge. The DEV-50V digital recording binoculars will launch in June at a retail price of about $2000.